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Mary Landers covers environmental news. Her blog highlights both what’s unique environmentally in the Savannah area and how coastal Georgia’s water, land, wildlife, pollution and energy issues fit into the global picture.

Posted August 20, 2014 11:32 am

Shark-bitten sea turtle improving

Here's Phoenix on Ossabaw the day she was found. You can see the shark bite behind her front flipper. Photo courtesy of Dr. Sidney Smith

Phoenix, an adult loggerhead turtle who washed ashore on Ossabaw Island after being bitten by a shark, is eating and recovering her strength. It looks like she may be able to return to the wild eventually.

John "Crawfish" Crawford is a local naturalist who was working with the Ossabaw Island Foundation when the turtle was found a few weeks ago. The group of about a dozen island visitors he was leading gave Phoenix her name and helped get her to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll, where she's recovering. Crawford today shared a report from Terry Norton, the veterinarian there:

"She just started eating and had a nice defecation today for the first time," Norton wrote to Crawford. "Lots of spider crab parts. She was impacted but I think that is now resolving. The shark bite was down to the lining of the body cavity but did not penetrate. We started with fairly intense IV fluids and total parenteral nutrition. She is on antibiotics, GI motility enhancers, flushing and debriding wound, therapeutic laser of the wound. She is moderately anemic and has a low blood protein. I suspect those will turn around soon now that she is eating. We are able to take a more hands-off approach now that she is eating on her own. Good prognosis for return to the wild."

Yikes! Not only was Phoenix bitten by a shark but it sound likes she ate too many spider crabs at once and got all stopped up. I was glad to hear she hadn't eaten a plastic bag, which was my first thought when I heard she had an intestinal obstruction.

As of Friday, Phoenix wasn't yet a part of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center's Adopt-A-Turtle program. But spokesperson Lori Hunt said folks are always welcome to donate to the general care of the turtle patients. The center's Facebook page showed Phoenix a few days ago. Its website has donation info.